Re/Max has dropped Calgary’s Re/Max Central, among the city’s best-known brokerages, owned by longtime Realtor Pat Hare, amid allegations surrounding the multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme run by a former employee.~
The brokerage was the employer of former Realtor Eric Drinkwater, who is charged with $1.9-million in alleged fraud.
He is the nephew of Hare, who has been a Re/Max realtor for more than 40 years.
“We can confirm that the independently-owned and operated Re/Max Real Estate (Central) in Calgary, Alberta, has been terminated from the Re/Max network and its owners are no longer affiliated with the Re/Max brand,” said a company statement.
“The Re/Max network shares and honours a commitment to professionalism, integrity and honesty. The goal is not simply to meet minimum requirements of applicable laws, regulations and professional standards, but to aspire to even higher levels of professionalism.”
RECA’s response
Drinkwater appeared before a disciplinary panel last week of the Real Estate Council of Alberta. He has been suspended since June 2024 and faces a lifetime ban from the regulator.
Hare remains actively licensed.
RECA declined to confirm whether Hare is being investigated.
“RECA has a legislated process that we follow. As the regulator, we must ensure that our actions don’t impact the independent hearing or jeopardize victims’ rights,” it said.
“Until the independent hearing panel issues its decision, we remain limited in what we can say.”
What happened
The scheme is believed to have occurred between March 2020 and February 2024.
During the RECA hearing, Drinkwater admitted to falsifying bridge loans for non-existent real estate transactions that he claimed were taking place through his former employer, Re/Max Central.
In reality, no such transactions existed, and the documents he provided to support the scheme were forgeries.
Courtney Zwicker is a digital reporter and associate editor for REM. Based in Atlantic Canada, she has over a decade of experience covering daily business news.